DANIEL ESTRIN, HOST:
The attack on Venezuela is a seismic event in the hemisphere. We've heard, this hour, comparisons to 1989 and the U.S. invasion of Panama to dispose that country's - depose that country's military leader, Manuel Noriega. Venezuela is a much bigger and powerful country. NPR's Eyder Peralta is following all of this from his base in Mexico City. He joins us now. Hi, Eyder.
EYDER PERALTA, BYLINE: Hey, Daniel.
ESTRIN: So let's start with what you have heard from Caracas and the government of Venezuela.
PERALTA: Look, we haven't heard anything from the government since President Trump held his press conference. And just to recap, Trump said the U.S. was, quote, "going to run Venezuela" and that the U.S. was in contact with Vice President Delcy Rodriguez who, he said, told Secretary of State Marco Rubio that she was ready to do what the United States wanted.
Rodriguez, by the way, has now been sworn in as president of Venezuela, and the last time we heard from her was on state TV earlier this morning, where she called on Venezuelans to fight, to go out to the streets. She said, we will be no one's slave. So right now, it's unclear what all this means or who is in charge of Venezuela or if Rodriguez really cut a deal with the United States or what other Venezuelan officials might be on board or not on board with this plan that President Trump has announced.
ESTRIN: Right. And what about reaction broader, more broadly in the region, Eyder, starting with Colombia? It shares a border with Venezuela. What are you hearing from there?
PERALTA: So Colombian President Gustavo Pedro says he has deployed security forces along the border, and that's in case, he says, there's a massive influx of refugees. Pedro also published a list of what he said were confirmed strikes in Venezuela. He said the military airbase in the middle of Caracas was bombed, as well as several other military installations, and he said the legislative building in Caracas was also hit. Pedro went on to condemn what he said - what he called a unilateral military action.
And with few exceptions, that's what we've heard from across the region. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said this operation crossed an unacceptable line and that this was, quote, "another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community." Chile and Mexico also condemned the U.S. action. Mexico is, of course, the United States' biggest trading partner, but they say this attack constitutes a clear violation of the U.N. charter.
ESTRIN: How about other repercussions beyond Venezuela? I'm thinking Cuba and Nicaragua.
PERALTA: Yeah, two of the U.S.'s - two of Venezuela's biggest partners. I - you know, I remember having a conversation with a Cuban diplomat when Trump came into power the second time around. And I floated the idea of military interventions, U.S. military interventions in Latin America, and he told me, this is a new world. Those things don't happen.
And today, we can say that this is a new world. This is so much bigger than we thought when we heard about these explosions this morning. This is the United States saying, we're going into Venezuela, we're setting up shop, and our companies will get into the oil business. This tells us that anything is possible in this region. And so it leaves questions - what happens next in Venezuela, but also what happens in the region. You know, Trump launched this attack on the premise that he was stopping drug trafficking. And today on Fox News, he said, Mexico is run by drug cartels. We're going to have to do something about Mexico, he said. And today, those words actually mean a whole lot.
ESTRIN: Yeah. NPR's Eyder Peralta reporting from his base in Mexico City. Eyder, thank you very much.
PERALTA: Thank you, Daniel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
